It is the human right of citizens to embark on peaceful protests to express their views against situations which they find unacceptable.
In civilised societies,the normal form of such protests would be street marches , by placards and banner- carrying protesters; on specific routes and on fixed dates.
Then after such street demonstration marches , protesters would GO AWAY ,leave the demonstration venues and return to their various homes.
Anti-capitalism protesters calling themselves " Occupy London " have set up a live-in camp of tents with cooking facilities ; outside St. Paul's Cathedral, London since 15th October , 2011.
They have also stated their intention to set up more live-in camps in strategic venues all over London.
As at tonight, around the grounds of St. Paul's Cathedral , one of the iconic sites in London; there are a lot of tents set up by a crowd of hundreds of persons from the various segments of the society, posing as "democracy , anti-capitalism and Green Peace protesters"
This recent phenomenon of setting up live-in protesters camps is, to say the least, a rather puzzling one.
What can setting up such live-in protest camps achieve which peaceful street protests cannot achieve?
What have the protesters who have set up live-in tents on the pavements of Parliament Square, London, for years now, achieved so far?
Which government and economic policies have these live-in camping protesters in Parliament Square and now in St. Paul's Cathedral , been able to change?
None , so far.
It is almost two weeks since the protesters invaded St Paul's Cathedral and millions of people are puzzled as to what they have achieved so far and what they hope to achieve by setting up messy camps which are indeed ,eyesores and a blight on the London landscape.
As is usual with such LIVE-IN camps,the one at St. Paul's has attracted many colourful characters ; all eager to share in the limelight( and benefits!) of living in such camps which have been set up by well-meaning protesters; supposedly to protest against "the injustices and corruption of capitalism and the banking sector"!
Wherever crowds gather, therein are persons of varying mind frames and some would not have a clue as to why they should maintain simple personal hygiene and keep their surrounding clean.
A visit to this live-in camp site and a close observation of the motley crowd of protesters, any time of the day at St. Pauls; would leave a lot of question marks in the minds of many as to the direction and purpose for this OCCUPY LONDON , group.
Is setting up trashy live-in camps at the door-steps of any establishment , to deliberately disrupt its daily activities ,for as long as its takes, a "peaceful protest"?
What is "peaceful" about deliberately causing intentional irritation
to members of the public on whose behalf the protesters claim to be speaking ?
Most of the live-in campers listen to the various speakers who come to encourage them with "lectures on the evils of capitalism and climate change" and then they just mouth the words they have heard from such speakers ; that "the bankers , the rich and the powerful are the wicked oppressors who have caused all the poverty , the climate change and all the problems of this world and they must be stopped from making more money and causing more pollution !"
Millions of people agree that the bankers and the greedy wealthy citizens have landed the world in a huge economic mess.
But how can setting up messy camps on the clean streets of London or any other cities influence and change the lifestyles and management skills of bankers?!
Surely, these live-in protesters are enlightened enough to know that even their ability set up their camping tents is part of the gains of capitalism which they themselves have been beneficiaries of and have enjoyed partaking of them!
Their clothes, shoes, ruck sacks, cars , airplanes, laptops, microphones , megaphones , mobile phones , foods , drinks and cooking utensils ; just to mention a few are; are, all of them, products of the same "terrible monsters" of Capitalism and global warming , made available to consumers world-wide by wealthy entrepreneurs and industrialists; and financed by the very same Banking sector which they are vehemently protesting against.
This fact is coupled with the fact that most of the protesters are from affluent backgrounds which are oiled by the gains of capitalism and global warming!
Also most of them have had the best education and have traveled extensively to the best holiday resorts in the world.
Where did the money for such privileged lifestyles come from?
The revelation, some days ago, by the Police that the Metropolitan Police Helicopter thermal cameras have shown that 90% of the tents are empty of human presence at night; confirming that these anti-capitalism protesters , cannot bear the discomforts of sleeping in the tents; but prefer, at night, to return to their homes to sleep in their comfortable beds, in their well-heated homes .
These homes and beds are all products of capitalism and industrialisation.
This latest news of double standards, has raised many eyebrows as to WHAT these messy live-in camps and " anti -capitalism and global -warming protests" ,are really all about!
Whatever the motives of the campers are, the fact is , as at tonight, there is an unacceptable atmosphere in the protesters live-in camp in St. Paul's Cathedral which has created a messy, confused and ridiculous scenario; instead of the atmosphere of genuine and peaceful protests which was the initial intention of the protesters.
This messy and rowdy atmosphere has forced the iconic church to shut its doors for the first time since World War II out of concern for what it says are health and safety risks posed by the “Occupy the London Stock Exchange” movement, now entering its 10th day.
This turn of events does not auger well for the reputation of any such protests and any more planned live-in camps like this one , all over London , in the future.
For these reasons , it is time for the protesters to move on ; as in "GO AWAY from the grounds of St Paul's Cathedral"!.
Also, it smacks of disrespect and disregard for what St. Paul's stands for ; when its grounds have been turned into an absurd spectacle, where alcohol, smoke, sex ,drugs , and junk litter the place!.
To compound this unacceptable mess on the grounds of St. Paul's , "Occupy London" spoke persons, not caring for the mess and the disruption they are causing ; have vowed to remain on the grounds of St. Paul's; " for as long as it takes"!
But why St.Paul's Cathedral ?
Strangely,some of the protesters and their supporters have resorted to mind games ; by using the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!
"What would Jesus do?" banners have sprung up in the camp and are now being flaunted by some of the protesters.
It has been suggested that it would be a "non-Christian " action for the church to attempt to evict them; that St Paul's must support and encourage the protesters because Jesus Christ would have done so.
Excuse me ?
Since when has any of the protesters cared to seek the approval or support of the Lord Jesus Christ and of his Church , in any matter?
"What would Jesus do ?" That question should have been asked BEFORE the live-in tents were set up ; not now that they know that St Paul's Cathedral has suddenly woken up from her slumber by seeking legal help to evict the campers!
It is amazing how people choose to invoke and use the Name and influence of the Lord , only when it suits them to do so!
Would Jesus Christ have accepted the continual stay of these protesters if Jesus Christ saw their disrespect and disregard for the church premises; even after the church has , politely and peacefully asked them to leave ?
The messy situation on the Cathedral grounds , is an abuse of the trust and friendliness of the Cathedral management who gave the first campers to arrive on the Cathedral steps , a warm welcome.
People are now blaming the Cathedral for being too friendly and supportive; by opening their grounds to the camping protesters because St Paul's management should have known, before this invasion ; that whenever the Church in England gives certain people an inch , they would go a mile.
It is a known fact that Christianity and the Church in England are seen by all sorts of cowards; as a softie and as a foot mat on which to wipe their dirty feet .
Cowards, would do to the Church and to Christians what they would not dare to do to any other place of worship of other religions.
Would the protesters have dared to turned an iconic place of worship of any of the other religions in Great Britain into a junk yard, or dared to disrupt the daily activities there and refuse to leave there when asked to do so ?
Of course they wouldn't even think of doing so because the protesters know that it IS only on a church premises that they would dare to insist to remain as a nuisance , by force , "for as long as it takes" , without a major bloody attack on them!
Strangely , since the 15th of October, when this live-in protest camp started , not only in London ; but in various cities worldwide, the protesters have not come up with cogent facts to inform the government and the governed citizen of the world, of the their own better alternatives and "green solutions"; to replace CAPITALISM and INDUSTRIALISATION.
They should state HOW they think the world governments should stop the " evils of capitalism and climate change" and HOW the protesters intend to STOP FOREVER the hard working bankers, the go-getting, ambitious, hard-working and wealth-generating entrepreneurs on this planet from making more and more money!
Protesting about the "evils" of "CAPITALISM" is not enough; the world would like to hear what laudable and better alternatives to capitalism , industrialisation and green gas emission which the protesters have under their hat.
Invading a church premises and mouthing slogans and hurling insults at passing bank executives and government officials; are as ridiculous a behaviour as they are naive outbursts. Obviously such form of "anti capitalism protests" have so far not worked to change anything in the past two weeks that the campers have arrived there.
Those of us who in the "non-protesting majority", who see capitalism and industrialisation not as evils ; but as necessary activities of the modern world; would appreciate it if the live-in camping protesters could come up with coherent and convincing facts as to HOW setting up live-camps on the various entrances to obstruct and distrupt daily activities as in in the grounds of St.Paul's Cathedral , the London Stock Exchange , the Bank of England or wherever on earth; can ever change anything .
Are the protesters, even for one moment, thinking that setting up live-in camps all the place, around the world, " for as long as it takes" , would make capitalism , the world banking and economic systems to change or to budge for even one inch because of their prolonged and loud protests and dramatics?!
While the core message of the protesters , which is condemnation of the percieved greed and mismanagement of the world economy by the financial sector,is understood and supported by millions of people world-wide; many more millions of persons are irritated by the continual occupation of the grounds of St.Paul's Cathedral, London by a motley crowd of rowdy and messy protesters.
The continual invasion and trashing of St. Paul's is now viewed as a self-defeatist action by the protesters , which is irrelevant to the cause of their anti-capitalism ideals.
Since the camping protesters in St. Paul's Cathedral have overstayed their welcome and have abused the trust and support of their church hosts; the time has come for the protesters to pack their tents and move away from the grounds of St.Paul's Cathedral.
If they refuse to do so the Church and the Police should set in motion , decisive action to forcibly remove them from there, ASAP.
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